Ngamba La: The Road That Has It All
Ngamba La is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 4.583m (15,036ft) above the sea level, located on the boundary of Sichuan and Qinghai provinces, in China.
The curvy road to the summit is totally paved. It’s called S307-G345. The pass is 52.1km (32.37 miles) long, running west-east from Xiewuzhen (Qinghai province) to Sexu Town (Sichuan province). As in most of the mountain passes in Tibet, there is a prayer flags construction over the road and a lot of throwing papers.
The road is long and arduous and crosses several mountain passes through remote areas, so you need to be prepared. Coming from the east is a very slow climb but on the west side there are some steeper switchbacks. The pass is also known as Anba La. The climb is very steep, hitting a 7% of maximum gradient through some of the ramps.
Pic: Jaap Vinke